Two Teams, One Cup

The BP Cup is perfectly named as it means about as much as the home runs count that are hit in batting practice. Last year the Cup went to the South side. It has resided in the hands of folks like Adam Dunn, Ozzie Guillen and A.J. Pierzynski. The players, I’m sure because it is a ‘Cup’ after all, took it home with them. Took it on trips with them. Took it places some of them may even be too embarassed to share. They took it their loved ones who had never seen the Sox win the Cup since it’s inception all they way back in 2010. Every single White Sox player plus Ozzie had their hands on it for a whole year.

Do we really want it after who knows what those guys have done with it? I mean, it was reported that on Sunday, Ozzie passed a kidney stone. I’m just saying.

If the White Sox think as highly of the Cup as many Cubs fans do, there is a possibility that the kidney stone saw the inside of the BP Cup. If there were a series they probably wouldn’t mind winning, it’s this one. Keep the Cup, White Sox. It’s all you.

You can have it. Proudly display it in your trophy case. Build a statue outside US Cellular Field to commemorate it’s greatness. Years from now, chant at Cubs fans “Two-thousand-ten!” “Two thousand-ten!” and make us feel awful about the drought.

One year since the last time a Chicago team won the BP Cup and it wasn’t the Cubs. When oh WHEN, will a Cubs fan in my family get to see the Cubs win the Cup!?! How unfair. How can the baseball gods do this to us. Why should the Sox fans get all the fun? Why should they get to raise the Cup year in and year out?

What about us Cubs fans? What about Blackhawks fans? Why must we make them be so specific in their chants of ‘We want the Cup!”. Now they have to say “We want the Stanley Cup! The hockey one! Not that crappy promotional good for nothing baseball meaningless trophy Cup!” That chant is SOOO long. But so be it. Whatever White Sox. You feel the need to have a trophy that makes you feel good about yourself? So be it. Keep it. We don’t even want a ribbon for participation.

Let’s rename the Cup in fact. No more BP Cup. Let’s just call it US Cellular Cup. Forget engraving the names of every ballplayer that wins the Cup on to it’s illustrious sides. Let’s just engrave, PROPERTY OF THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX on to it. We’ll show up for six games every season and make sure you have your little trophy so you can have some meaningless piece of metal to make you feel good about yourself.

Better yet, we’ll win the series and STILL give you the cup. Like a little kid hoping for a foul ball, standing by the dugout with our glove on next to clumsy adult-sized you. We will catch the ball and then hand it to you because in our life, the prize, as cool as it is to you, will never mean that much to us.

How’s that sound? We’ll win the series, you keep the cup. We know how much it means to you.

Writing for:

MLB.COMVINE LINE MAGAZINE - The official publication of the Chicago CubsBASEBALL DIGESTCONNECTICUT TIGERS - Class A Short Season Minor League Affiliate of the Detroit Tigers
Writing Samples available HERE